Man returns home to find his house has vanished (L.I. NY)

NY Post ^ | November 2, 2015 | 9:58am | By Emily Saul

[Red Badger]

A Long Island man returned home from a long trip to find all his possessions — and his home — completely vanished.

Philip Williams, 69, flew to Florida in December 2014 to escape the cold winter and undergo a knee operation.

But when he came back to his West Hempstead homestead in August, all that was left was a grass-covered lot.

“You don’t expect to leave and get surgery and come back to find everything gone. I’m outraged. They shouldn’t be able to do that. This was preventable. It’s unjust and a tremendous disservice to me,” Williams, who is now suing the town, he told CBS News.

Local officials say they made the decision to demolish the home in May after receiving numerous complaints from neighbors that the house, built in 1920, was in extreme disrepair.

[Responsibility2nd]

This guy should not have ignored the notices the city sent out.

[Old Sarge]

“We’re the government you voted for, we know what’s best for YOU...”

[Red Badger]

He was in Florida.........................

[b4its2late]

It pays to have your mail forwarded, even if it costs a few bucks a month....

[Sasparilla]

Some Germans who have had to spend time in the hospital have returned home to find that the government has “relocated” so called “immigrants” in their home and have given the formerly hospitalized resident a jack boot to the butt.

[tumblindice]

[AppyPappy]

That was a long knee surgery recovery.

[Responsibility2nd]

See post 5.

[Blood of Tyrants]

They had all the signs to know that someone was living here,”

You mean like nobody ever at home, lawn not cared for, mail piling up?

[Vermont Lt]

I should be so lucky.

I want to sell my house. My wife doesn’t.

Damned luck some people have.

[Red Badger]

Just go on vaycay to Florida for 6 months, and don’t mow your grass.........................

[Minutemen]

I was thinking that this could only happen to an Obamabot Lib!

[Minutemen]

Just go on vaycay to Florida for 6 months, and don’t mow your grass......

and not pay your bills,nor answer summons & yada yada.

[Red Badger]

Well, it is NY after all, home of the liberal people who care..................

[Charles Martel]

He was in Florida.........................

I'll bet he was ignoring the notices well before his Florida trip. This sort of thing doesn't go from first notice to bulldozer in six months.

[Vermont Lt]

The folks next door left their home on Christmas Eve in 2012. Never made another payment.

This past March a couple of kids bought it.

It took three full days just to get the lawn cleared and cut.

I got used to just cutting their weeds off my fence and leaving them there.

[Milton Miteybad]

I'll bet he was ignoring the notices well before his Florida trip. This sort of thing doesn't go from first notice to bulldozer in six months.

Exactly...this kind of thing usually takes years, not months. This guy would have had to have been blowing the city off for several years under normal circumstances...maybe 5 to 10 years if the city is slow about dealing with dilapidated housing. In some cities, it can take several years just to get the weeds cut on an overgrown, abandoned lot. Just think how long it could take for a municipality to run the legal gamut to knock down a house that's about to collapse in ruins.

I'll bet that if you looked at the file on this property down at city hall, it would be stuffed with copies of unanswered correspondence addressed to this guy, telling him that if he didn't deal with his housing repair issues, that the city would deal with them for him. Cities normally don't just go out and knock down a house because they feel like doing it all of a sudden one day.

[MUDDOG]

My City House Was Gone.

[BlueLancer]

And, when I returned, Mary Jo and the car were gone ...